When Luther spoke out in the 16th century on God’s redeeming love, he was not thinking about the environment. Ecological challenges were not in the forefront at that time.
However, today many parts of the world face critical environmental challenges. In Africa, for example, many communities face tremendous pressure to find safe drinking water, while all around them huge expanses of communal land are being sold off or leased to the highest bidder. Water and land - resources that for centuries have sustained communities and which pastoralists have held in common - are now moving into the marketplace. They have become commodities. Communities that have relied on them have been forced to migrate, often to urban slums where there are few or poor services.
Luther’s intervention at the time of the Reformation reminds us that there are aspects of life on this planet which, for the sake of both earthly and eternal life, should not be commodities and should never be for sale. That includes the good creation God has given us to watch over.